SALT LAKE CITY — Three thoughts on the Jazz's 103-101 loss to the Sacramento Kings from KSL.com's Utah Jazz beat writer, Andy Larsen.

1. Bad shooting start and bad transition defense costs Jazz the game

The Jazz won every quarter of this contest except the first, a 26-12 beatdown that looked as ugly as the scoreline indicated. From the 8:06 mark of the first quarter to 10:22 of the second quarter, the Jazz made 0 baskets, and scored three points at the foul line. That's it.

During that period, the Jazz were getting a lot of 3-point looks, and weren't making any of them. That's what a large portion of Quin Snyder's offense is about, but tonight, they just didn't fall. By the end, Gordon Hayward, Rodney Hood, and Trey Burke finished shooting a combined 2-22 from the 3-point line.

That being said, I have to give those players credit for figuring out a way to get points on the board in the latter three quarters without having the outside game going. All three players ended up scoring more points than shots taken. Hayward went to the free throw line 16 times in the game, making 13, and Hood and Burke started to hit from midrange.

The other worry for the Jazz early was the transition defense. The Kings scored 14 of their 26 points in the first quarter within eight seconds of getting the rebound or turnover at the other end of the floor. That's way, way too many. Transition defense was a founding principle for Snyder upon taking the coaching job of the Jazz, and by-and-large, they've done a good job there.

But both times the Jazz have played the Kings, they've leaked out after made and missed baskets alike and gotten easy looks at the other end of the floor. Since the Jazz ended up coming back in the game, it's hard not to say that some better defense early would have been able to push the team over the edge.

2. Smart play with under a minute left lets the Jazz tie the game

With only 56 seconds left in tonight's game, the Kings had a seemingly sufficient 100-92 lead over the Jazz: about half of the arena's fans left to beat the traffic at that point. After that, though, the Jazz executed well. Rudy Gobert rebounded Burke's three point miss, then kicked it out to Rodney Hood for an open three to make the lead just five points.

Rudy Gay then made just one of two free throws on the next play. Hayward then drove down the court and made this ridiculous and-one.

Sacramento's lead was down to just three points with 29.2 seconds left to go.

From here, the Jazz had an interesting choice: foul, or not foul? The Jazz chose not to foul, and I asked Snyder about that decision after the game: "We felt the differential was enough that we could try to get a stop, call timeout, and advance the ball and make a basket." Indeed it was, and the possession worked out perfectly: Rajon Rondo, a poor outside shooter (which might be putting it mildly), took a 20-foot jump shot with 8.9 seconds left. It missed, the Jazz got the rebound, called timeout, and had the opportunity to win the game.

Snyder's gotten some mild criticism for his plays at the end of games resulting in some bad looks late, but this one worked well, getting a good look for Ingles in a situation that definitely called for the three. Interestingly, Ingles even dribbled the ball before still having enough space to get an in-rhythm 3-point shot up to tie the game.

In the end, Rudy Gay's contested 17-foot fadeaway jumper won the game for the Kings, but it's hard to criticize the Jazz's defense on that play, too. After all, they kept the ball away from DeMarcus Cousins, who had 36 points. Sometimes, the offense makes tough looks, there's nothing you can do.

3. Rookies career highs

After his career-high 16 in Portland, Trey Lyles bested his own performance under 24 hours later by scoring 19 points against the Kings.

Raul Neto, on the other hand, didn't have a good game in Portland, getting significantly beaten by Damian Lillard. Of course, that's what you'd expect, but Neto didn't put up great resistance. But he bounced back tonight, with a career-high 13 points, plus a team-high four assists in 20 minutes.

That's on the Jazz's 39th game of the year. This is exactly the point in the season when you would expect the Jazz's rookies to start falling off — Neto played in 34 games last year in the ACB, and Lyles played 36 games with Kentucky. They did both in a much longer stretch of time, with much more rest in between games.

Instead, both Jazz rookies have raised the standard of their play, especially Lyles, who's beginning to earn national recognition for his improved play.

Lyles still has a way to go: he got beaten on the defensive glass a number of times tonight, and still doesn't always make the right play. But his decision making is getting a lot better, and he told me after the game that he's no longer "speeding himself up." When Lyles first got in the league, he felt pressure to do something right away, and forced passes, made crazy drives, and went in the wrong place on defense. Now, though, Lyles has made improvements in his overall game.

That looks to be important moving forward: Lyles led the Jazz in playing time tonight, with 38:55 played. And now that Trevor Booker has been diagnosed with a concussion, it looks like he'll keep being leaned on to play major minutes.

By the way, if both Booker and Favors are unavailable to play Saturday against the Los Angeles Lakers, I wouldn't be surprised if the Jazz use their 15th roster spot to find someone to play at the power forward spot. Idaho Stampede big man Jeff Ayres has been impressing in the D-League, has significant NBA experience, and would probably be able to jump into the swing of things for the Jazz right away.

Related topics